E-Business
McAfee Raises Cyber Crime Alarm Amid COVID-19
Cyber security solutions company McAfee has issued a warning on the rise of cyber criminal activity during the COVID-19 pandemic, saying it observed an average of 375 new threats per minute in the first quarter of this year.
In its McAfee COVID-19 Threat Report: July 2020, which examined cyber criminal activity related to COVID-19 and the evolution of cyber threats in first quarter of 2020, the firm says there has been a surge in cyber criminals exploiting the pandemic through COVID-19-themed malicious apps, phishing campaigns and malware.
It says what started as a trickle of phishing campaigns and occasional malicious apps quickly turned into a deluge of thousands of malicious URLs and more-than-capable threat actors “leveraging on our thirst for more information as an entry mechanism into systems across the world.
“It’s no surprise that opportunistic cyber criminals are targeting employees working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic. The need for enterprises to quickly quarantine their workforce has challenged SOCs [security operating centres] and CTOs [chief technology officers] to adapt a secure work-from-home model, the scope of which the security industry has never experienced.”
The report says new PowerShell malware increased 688% over the course of the quarter, while total malware grew 1 902% over the past four quarters.
Disclosed incidents targeting the public sector, individuals, education and manufacturing increased, notes McAfee. These disclosed incidents targeting the public sector increased 73%, individuals increased 59%, education increased 33%, and manufacturing increased 44%.
New mobile malware increased by 71%, with the company adding that total malware grew nearly 12% over the past four quarters.
“Thus far, the dominant themes of the 2020 threat landscape have been cyber criminals’ quick adaptation to exploit the pandemic and the considerable impact cyber attacks have had,” says Raj Samani, McAfee fellow and chief scientist.
McAfee researchers found it is typical of COVID-19 campaigns to use pandemic-related subjects, including testing, treatments, cures and remote work topics to lure targets into clicking on a malicious link, download a file, or view a PDF.
To track these campaigns, the company has published a COVID-19 Threat Dashboard, which includes top threats leveraging the pandemic, most targeted verticals and countries, and most utilised threat types and volume over time.
“Cyber security cannot be solved by cookie-cutter approaches; each organisation is unique and has specific intelligence requirements and objectives,” says Patrick Flynn, head of McAfee Advanced Programs Group.
“The McAfee COVID-19 Threat Dashboard utilises data to create true analysed intelligence, which allows users to understand the total threat environment, informing them of potential threats before they are weaponised.”
Over the course of the first quarter of 2020, McAfee says it observed malicious actors focus on sectors where availability and integrity are fundamental; for example, manufacturing, law and construction firms.
“No longer can we call these attacks just ransomware incidents. When actors have access to the network and steal the data prior to encrypting it, threatening to leak it if you don’t pay, that is a data breach,” says Christiaan Beek, senior principal engineer and lead scientist at McAfee.
“Using either weakly protected Remote Desktop Protocol or stolen credentials from the underground, we have observed malicious actors moving at light-speed to learn the network of their victims and effectively steal and then encrypt their data.”
Kaspersky has released a report about a phishing campaign where attackers abuse Microsoft’s authentication mechanism. The campaign spanned from early April to mid-May 2026 and was styled as a notice from a law firm.
The goal was to steal victims’ credentials and access their data. Previously Kaspersky warned about phishing exploiting Google Tasks, Google Forms, Bubble and Amazon Simple Email Service.
Microsoft’s authentication mechanism – the OAuth 2.0 Device Authorisation Grant – allows users to log into their Microsoft accounts on devices with limited input capabilities, such as smart TVs, by pasting a code or scanning a QR code on another device, like a smartphone or a PC. This convenience also creates an opportunity for attackers to abuse the flow, potentially hijacking accounts and maintaining control through stolen refresh tokens.
Attackers sent victims emails disguised as communication from a law firm, with a password-protected PDF file attached. After opening the PDF and entering the password, they were presented with a webpage that listed several documents.
Viewing these documents required clicking a provided link, which led to a legitimate Microsoft address. However, the URL parameters were configured to redirect the user to a phishing resource after they opened the Microsoft page.
The phishing page featured multiple CAPTCHAs, presumably deployed to filter out security bots which are used to check websites for threats. Once past the CAPTCHAs, the user was routed to a final page that instructed them to copy a one-time code. This code was the one that the attackers had already fetched by starting the login process on their side.
Clicking the displayed one-time code automatically copied it to the clipboard while simultaneously redirecting the user to Microsoft’s actual, legitimate authentication page where they were prompted to paste and enter the code.
After the user entered the code, the multifactor authentication process completed and the attackers got hold of the session’s tokens. This enabled them to read and send emails from the victim’s mailbox, exfiltrate files from OneDrive and access Teams conversations.
“Threat actors don’t always rely on harvesting credentials or deploying malware to access sensitive data – they can weaponise legitimate tools. Therefore, users must exercise vigilance not only when visiting suspicious sites, but also when navigating official platforms.
“We advise enterprise teams to evaluate the business necessity of the Device Code Flow within their corporate infrastructure. If this authentication mechanism is not required for daily operations, it should be disabled,” commented Roman Dedenok, Anti-Spam Expert at Kaspersky.
To establish a comprehensive defence against Device Code Phishing attacks, organisations should deploy robust email security solutions. For corporate users, Kaspersky Security for Mail Server with its multi-layered defence mechanisms powered by machine learning algorithms provides robust protection against a wide range of evolving threats and offers peace of mind to businesses in the face of evolving cyber risks. For individual users, Kaspersky Premium offers AI-powered anti-phishing features designed to help avoid phishing attacks and improve overall cybersecurity.
Against the backdrop of struggles by small and medium enterprises in Africa to scale their businesses because of lack of formal processes, Ovaloop Technologies has unveiled an inventory solution aimed at supporting retailers across Nigeria and Africa to formalise their businesses.
Combining inventory management, payment processing, accounting and business intelligence, the platform enables retailers to generate accurate financial records, improve operational efficiency, reduce internal fraud and strengthen their ability to access credit.
The company said the expansion of Nigeria’s digital payment ecosystem has created the need for solutions that go beyond processing transactions to helping small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) manage their day-to-day operations.
Speaking during the company’s launch event in Lagos on Monday, Princewill Mba, CEO and co-founder of Ovaloop Technologies described the platform as an indigenous technology designed to grow and formalize Africa’s retail economy
“Ovaloop is an inventory management system, but we like to always define it as a retail operating system, so think about it as your Microsoft Office. For us, the whole idea is to manage how businesses are being run. So Ovaloop manages your business operation end-to-end, from how you’re taking stock, to how you manage your stock, how you make sales, and how you collect payments,” Mba said.
Mba further noted that the company aims to change the conversation from building products that simply process payments to developing technology that helps retailers manage their entire business operations.
According to him, the formalisation of retail operations will also bring onboard unbanked SMEs, unlocking access to credit facilities which remain one of the major challenges facing SMEs in Nigeria and Africa.
“Most of these retailers are not bankable. They make a lot of money but when they come to collect loans from financial institutions, they struggle, because their cash flow statement is not very accurate, the data they provide to the banks or other financial institutions is not very accurate, and then they can’t work with that data.
“But with Ovaloop, we can generate useful data for them that they circulate to these institutions to help them access funding, and you can’t shy away from the fact that funding is very imperative for businesses to operate smoothly,” he said.
Acknowledging the gap in the inventory space, the CEO disclosed that the company took time to understand business operations across Africa and has built a solution that manages business operations end-to-end.
Mba said there is a huge gap in inventory management solutions across Africa, noting that many businesses still rely on manual record-keeping or disconnected software.
“What we’ve built and why we took this long was for us to understand how Africans operate business, because whether you would like it or not, most businesses are still taking inventory and stock using basic books while others use fragmented tools.
“So there’s a tool that collects your payment. There’s a tool that runs your business and another tool that runs your accounting. But when we talk about Ovaloop, it’s taking all these activities into cognisance. So, from end to end, we can manage your inventory.”
Daniel Kilanko, co-founder and CTO of Ovaloop Technologies commenting on the platform noted that it is easily accessible with strong security software that verifies payments and detects fraud.
“Our Ovaloop Pay Protect will tie every sales transaction to verified payments. So with that, you don’t have to deal with fragmented tools. The tools you are using for your inventory, payments and everything synchronise properly.
“So no transaction can be completed unless a verified payment is linked to that transaction. And with this, we also hope that we will be connecting with other local technology so that you just have one central system that does everything for you end-to-end.”
Kilanko said Ovaloop can be accessed through the web, Android and iOS mobile phones which gives users a complete business overview from anywhere in the world.
The platform will also be linked to various supply chains, enabling users to access products within and outside the country.
Also speaking, Titilope Ejimagwa, chairperson, Ovaloop Technologies, inventory losses and employee theft remain major operational challenges for many entrepreneurs
Ejimagwa recalled losing inventory to trusted employees despite maintaining close oversight of her business, citing nearly four decades of experience in marketing and entrepreneurship.
She noted that technology such as the Ovaloop platform, which can track inventory, verify payments and improve operational transparency, could significantly reduce such losses for SMEs.
“As entrepreneurs, one of our biggest challenges is fraud and inventory losses. Having one platform that helps monitor operations and reduce those risks is a major advantage for businesses,” she said.
Jumia Nigeria, the country’s e-commerce platform, has introduced a new instalment payment option on its marketplace through a partnership with Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) provider Klump, giving customers another way to pay for purchases without bearing the full cost upfront.
The new option allows eligible customers to spread payments for selected purchases over a period of up to 12 months after making an initial deposit of between 20 and 30 percent. The partnership is expected to widen access to products such as smartphones, electronics, home appliances, and other everyday essentials for consumers who may prefer structured repayment plans over one-time payments.
Customers selecting the option at checkout can compare financing offers from participating financial institutions, complete a digital credit assessment, and, once approved, begin repayment through fixed monthly instalments. The introduction of instalment payments comes as digital commerce continues to evolve in Nigeria, with retailers exploring payment options that respond to changing consumer spending patterns and the growing demand for financial flexibility.
Commenting on the partnership, Chief Executive Officer of Jumia Nigeria, Temidayo Ojo, said the initiative reflects the company’s commitment to making online shopping more accessible to a wider range of consumers.
“We are constantly looking at practical ways to remove barriers to online shopping. For many customers, affordability is not always about the price of a product but about having payment options that fit their financial reality. By introducing instalment payments with Klump, we are giving customers greater flexibility while making quality products more accessible.”
He added that expanding payment choices forms part of Jumia’s wider effort to improve the overall customer experience and support the company’s ambition of becoming Nigeria’s everyday retail destination.
“Whether we are strengthening our logistics network, expanding product selection, or introducing new payment solutions, the goal remains the same: to make shopping on Jumia simpler, more convenient, and more accessible for customers wherever they are,” Ojo said.
Founded to simplify access to goods across Africa, Jumia has continued to invest in technology, logistics, and payment solutions to make digital commerce easier for consumers in both major cities and emerging markets across Nigeria.
The addition of instalment payments complements the range of payment methods already available on the platform and comes at a time when consumer demand for flexible financing options is increasing across the retail sector.
Celestine Omin, Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Klump, said the partnership aligns with Klump’s objective of expanding access to responsible consumer credit.
“When we started Klump, our mission was simple: to give Nigerians access to affordable credit wherever they shop. Today, we’re pleased to partner with Jumia to bring flexible instalment payments to one of Africa’s largest e-commerce marketplaces, making it easier for more customers to access the products they need,” Omin said.
Under the arrangement, Klump will provide the financing infrastructure while customers complete the application process digitally during checkout. Financing offers are provided through participating financial institutions, subject to approval.
For Jumia, the partnership represents another step in expanding the range of services available on its marketplace while supporting broader efforts to deepen digital commerce and financial inclusion. As more Nigerians turn to online shopping, the availability of flexible payment options is expected to lower one of the barriers to e-commerce adoption, particularly for higher-value purchases.
Customers can access the instalment payment option by selecting Klump at checkout on eligible products available on the Jumia platform.
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